Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-10-09
WALLED ST. MALO.
A PICTURESQUE OLD PLACE WITH
MANY MEMORIES.
Houss, Of All Psriods-Chstsaubrisnd's
Grave and Bir.hplacs-Doss that
Guarded the Town.
fDinan letter.l

tbe old town of Dol, having first sent
nv trunk by train direct to st. Malo.
II was a rural road, a country Of fairish
land, farm buildings with matched
roofs, and stock in good condition that
/ passed through that warm forenoon.
In the pastures where cattle were
grazing / noticed often that many were
fastened in couples by ropes tied to their
foreleps there were sheep also, hocks
of geese in stubble fields guarded by
little girls, apple orchards bordering on
little villages that reminded me OF Irish
hamlets. and stone crosses frequently
with red peoples in full flower at their
feet. Just before | reached Dol as
cended the mount of that name, but
saw nothing up there except O stone or
two which mark the remains OF once
famous monastery. The town OF Dol
is picturesque, but not half so much so
as L had anticipated. The cathedral is
magnificent, and its adjacent graveyard
is quaint and interesting. Thence,
starting the next day, l walked to a
town OF some 1900 inhabitants. where
there are cabs and wagons plentiful, and
vet no horse or donkey is ever per-
mitted to 90 so fast as trot within its
walls. So reads the municipal law, and
the drivers OF st. Malo are law-abidlng
men. Perhaps the narrowness and
steepness Of the streets may have some
thing to do with their goodness in this
respect, but the fact is rs have stated
it.
st. Malo is built on q small granite
island at the mouth Of the Rance,
where it runs into the English Chan
mel. Always a strongly fortified place
it still retains its old walls and castle,
as well as much of the appearance that
it presented in days when cOrsairs gave
it glory and renown. With founda-
tions laid deep in granite rock, sur
rounded by enormously thick ram
parts. over which towers the spire OF
an ancient cathedral, not to mention
many stately old houses, and once the
abode of ship-owners whose vessels car
RED the French flag into every sea, st.
Malo presents AN aspect which, whc-
Their seen from distance or close by
its walls, is remarkably striking. The
town is exceedingly picturesque.
The streets are full of houses OF
oil epochs from the twelfth century
down to our modern times, and many
of them have Jdcddcs of carved wood
and small windows glazed with innu-
merable little panes, all set in lead, and
often Of different colors. Here and
there in the labyrinth of narrow streets,
or in diminutive public squares, where
space and air and light are measured
out parsimoniously to the inhabitants,
| saw tablets in the walls OF fine old
mansions or on modest dwellings that
bore the historic names OF many men
who have shed lustre on their native
city. Formerly a place from which
strangers were On 'irely and jealousy
excluded. St. Malo is even now one OF
those spots in France which is not
visited 10y half SO many persons as 1t
ought to be.
like St. Malo it has history which
runs back to remote antiquity full OF
daring deeds, and nowhere do | know
Of "a corner richer in daring Souvenirs,
or which has produced larger crop Of
men illustrious in their day and gene
ration. One OF them, by name jacques
Cartier, discovered the st Lawrence,
and made France mistress OF New
foundland and Canada There wa,
born Manpertuis, who in 1876 measured
in Lapland an arc OF tho meridian and
thus aided the French Academy to fix
with exactness the size and con-
fauration Of the earth. The
Able Lammennais, Chateaubriand,
and many others l might mention,
we're all born in this a city that
lifts itself up above the waves OF the
sea and is girdled in massive ramparts
and towers as sombro aud imposing as
any ever constructed. Time was when
the Malousians were a hard race OF
sailors whose ships went everywhere
and brought home the produce OF fai
distant lands. They were always ready
to turn their attention to priyatsering-
an employment in which they excelled
and for which the frequent wars be-
tween France and England gave
many opportunities. Down to the
fifteenth century they did moi
consider themselves as Frenchmen
nor even ns Bretons their motto
was Point Breton. Malousin S1is,
and oil they would consent to in re-
turn for the protection-frst of the
Dukes of Brittany and afterward OF the
Kings of France-was to aid those gen
tlemen in their wars. The site Of st.
Nslo was once far distant from the
coast, and was covered by the vast for
est Of Scissey, in which Druids cele-
brated their mysterious rites and offer
ed human sacrifices to gods whose very
names are now forgotten. Gurnesy,
jersey, and all the other islands which
lie along the coast of Brittany were also
then q part of the mainland, and they
continued to form a part OF it until
about the year 700 OF our era, when a
terrible storm and an unusually high
tide tore them asunder from the main
land, submerged large portion OF the
forest, and changed the entire coast
line OF this part OF the Continent. The
legend is that Christian hermit named
Aaron then retired to the forest OF
Scissey, and took up his abode on a
lofty, rocky island formed by the cat
aclysm to which 1 have Just referred,
and aiterward named st. Malo. That
was in l152, and the town rapidly in
creased in population.
The voyages of Cartier gave great
stimulus to the shipping interest, and
many vessels were soon being equipped
for long voyages. In 1909 fleet was
fitted ont there which, in company with
one from Spain, went to Tunis. bonn
barded that port, and destroyed thirty
five pirate ships which had done great
harm to the commerce of Christian IA.
tons in the Mediterranean. 1t was st.
Malo that furnished Richelieu with the
fleet OF twenty-five sail which aided
him to besiege and capture La Ro.
chelle, and in recognition of these and
other services Louis XIV. &C.
corded the city the exclusive
privilege Of furnishing crews foI
the Aagships OF the French navy. In
those days the merchants OF st. Malo
owned ships by the hundreds, and were
so wealthy that they were able to loan
Louis xiv. 3O,0O0.0OOf. on one single
occasion. SO great was the success OF
Ill. ,,-;,,a4aoYo tkaf hara IF c,ol1 onJ